Prosecutor General's Office: Suspicions over shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war will be announced soon
Kyiv • UNN
The Prosecutor General's Office has identified individuals who will soon be charged with the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war based on evidence collected and shared with international partners.
The Office of the Prosecutor General has identified specific individuals in some cases of shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war, who will soon be served with a notice of suspicion.
Yuriy Belousov, head of the Department of the Prosecutor General's Office for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict, said this on Radio Liberty (Svoboda.Ranok project), UNN reports .
Details
We already have verdicts in cases like the one in Chernihiv - we already have a court sentence to life imprisonment for a Russian army major who executed a prisoner of war in March 2022. We already have cases in the courts regarding these cases. We have suspicions in Kharkiv and Kharkiv region regarding Russians. We are now collecting materials on several recent cases. I think that suspicions will be announced in the near future. Evidence is being collected and systematized. We share information with international partners, with the International Criminal Court. We are trying to attract as many resources and states as possible to show what is happening
He noted that a specific unit of the Russian Federation was behind the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the video of which was published by DeepState on February 25, 2024, but has not yet said which unit it was.
We are currently verifying this information. There is information about seven people, but again, we are checking it out. The problem in such cases is that it is not always possible to access the crime scene. Therefore, we collect information from various sources. We have reason to believe that a certain unit of the Russian Federation is involved, but we are refraining from naming this unit, and when we are sure, we will make this information public
Also, unfortunately, these are not isolated facts, but the execution of our prisoners of war has been taking place since the beginning of the open invasion.
In March, it was in the Chernihiv region and Kharkiv region. But at the end of last year, since the end of November, these cases have become more frequent, their number is growing exponentially. This indicates that this is an unambiguous policy supported by the top leadership of the Russian Armed Forces. If this was an isolated incident, it would be the actions of a particular soldier. In this case, given the geography and the number of recent cases, it is clearly supported by the top leadership. We have no doubt about it
He also said that the Russians themselves publish videos of executions of Ukrainian prisoners, trying to use all possible means, including psychological influence, to demoralize our troops and weaken their resistance.
In addition, the prosecutor's office has already identified specific individuals in some cases of shooting prisoners of war in Avdiivka, Robotyno, and Vesele.
Recall
On February 9, the prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the killing of unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war by the occupiers . The Russians shot one unarmed prisoner and killed another by throwing a grenade into a dugout.
